Neither is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and both employ their nuclear weapons in elaborate games of peek-a-boo with the international community. Israel and North Korea are equally paranoid about outsiders conspiring to destroy their states, and this paranoia isn’t without some justification. Partly as a result of these suspicions, both countries engage in reckless and destabilizing foreign policies. In recent years, Israel has launched preemptive strikes and invaded other countries, while North Korea has abducted foreign citizens and blown up South Korean targets (including, possibly, a South Korean ship in late March in the Yellow Sea).

And they’re both exceptions in their regions: Israel is a Jewish state in an Arab region; North Korea is an old-style feudal dictatorship in an Asian region marked by relative prosperity and political openness. But the two countries often behave as if they are exceptions to all other rules as well. For instance, they both share an antipathy toward human rights organizations that attempt to hold them to international standards. Witness the recent attacks by Israel (and its hard-right supporters) of Human Rights Watch because of reports critical of Israel’s human rights record. North Korea also routinely rejects human rights inquiries as a challenge to its sovereignty. (For a proposal on a better strategy to engage North Korea on human rights issues, check out my latest piece Starting Where North Korea Is.)

Despite these similarities, these two roguish powers haven’t had a great deal of interaction. Between 1992 and 1994, Israel secretly negotiated a billion dollar buy-out of North Korea’s missile export program to the Middle East, and the United States intervened to nix the deal (only to explore a similar option with North Korea at the end of the Clinton administration). In 2007, Israel bombed a suspected nuclear facility in Syria that may or may not have been built with North Korean assistance. Otherwise, the two countries maintain their innocence and distance.

And yet one country is an official rogue and the other country only plays one on Arab TV. The difference in designation owes much to U.S. policy. One of the perks of world domination is the chance to make like Adam in Genesis and name all the animals. North Korea, according to Washington, is beyond the pale. Israel, however, is "one of us": firmly ensconced in the Judeo-Christian tradition, accorded honorary European status, and even considered worthy of membership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

In certain respects, of course, Israel readily qualifies for OECD membership. Its per-capita GDP is larger than current OECD members Turkey and Mexico. But as Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF) contributor Adam Robert Green explains in Does Israel Belong in the Club?, Israel faces two types of barriers to access. On the one hand, Israel is increasingly according second-class status to its non-Jewish citizens. On the other hand, he writes, "Israel occupies swathes of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights, and exerts physical and bureaucratic control over these regions, without granting any political representation to the inhabitants. By governing de facto, without giving voice to those governed, Israel cannot be described as a democracy: not technically and not in spirit."

So, why does Israel merit this exceptional treatment? Certainly, the country has a supportive constituency in the United States, although this "Israel lobby" doesn’t have the magical powers that some would ascribe to it. The United States supplies Israel with $2-3 billion annually in military aid for geopolitical reasons, to have a friend in the region. But we also send over $1 billion every year to Egypt for the same reason. Heck, we used to send arms to Saddam Hussein, and it wasn’t because of an "Iraq lobby" pulling the strings.

Of greater salience is the overlap in the exceptionalist traditions of Israel and the United States — the notions of "chosen people," the "redemption" of the land by settling it — which I’ve written about here before. This symbiotic exceptionalism can also be found in the relationship between North Korea and China. Both Beijing and Pyongyang view themselves as the centers of the world and, through transmuted nationalism, the true heirs of the communist tradition.

In both cases, however, the sense of overlapping exceptionalism may be coming to an end. Beijing tolerated Pyongyang’s out-there behavior because both countries were part of a larger communist bloc, the Cold War in Asia required clear allegiances, and at times North Korea was useful as a cat’s paw to swipe at the United States and its allies. Pyongyang tolerated Beijing’s older-brother paternalism because — to quote Woody Allen’s famous joke about the guy who accepts his brother’s delusion that he’s a chicken — it needed the eggs, namely China’s shipments of food and energy. Today, however, these two countries are no longer as "close as lips and teeth." By pursuing nuclear weapons and refusing to pursue Beijing-style economic reform, North Korea has become like one of those embarrassing relatives who keeps getting thrown in jail and refuses to go into rehab. China tried tough love but now much of the love has drained from its approach, leaving only toughness.

So, too, have U.S. and Israeli interests begun to diverge. Israel’s invasion of Gaza, its refusal to stop new settlements in the West Bank, and its on-again-off-again desire to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities are all anathema to the realists in the Obama administration. Important actors in the U.S. political scene will still support Israel regardless of its behavior, since they want to see Hamas punished, Palestine carved up and impotent, and Iran batted about by our cat’s paw ally. But mainstream opinion is beginning to shift away from Israel — or at least the Israeli right’s version of Israel. From above, the public criticism of Israel by the U.S. president and vice president conveys Washington’s anger and frustration. From below, the emergence of J Street, the pro-Israel and pro-peace policy outfit, challenges the monolithic, Israel-right-or-wrong consensus that has had such a stranglehold over U.S. policy.

Just as China would not likely abandon North Korea, the United States isn’t about to sever relations with Israel any time soon. Rogue allies are allies first, rogues second. But both North Korea and Israel may soon find that they’ve invoked their exceptional status one time too many. Some day, when they look over their shoulders for back-up, they might find nothing but air.

201203004142 Responseshttp%3A%2F%2Foriginal.antiwar.com%2Ffeffer%2F2010%2F05%2F07%2Fnorth-korea-and-israel-a-lot-in-common%2FNorth+Korea+and+Israel%3A+A+Lot+in+Common2010-05-08+06%3A00%3A03John+Fefferhttp%3A%2F%2Foriginal.antiwar.com%2F%3Fp%3D2012030041 to “North Korea and Israel: A Lot in Common”

Israel is the only democray in the middle east and one fo the few relaible allies that the US has. I hope Israel never gives up it's nuclear arsenal. After the murder of six million Jews it would be national suicide to do so.

yeh israel has NEVER been an ally. do you spy on your allies? do you massacre people on one of your allies ships (USS Liberty) in an effort to get your "ally" to bomb egypt? do you send agents from your spy agency to film and celebrate national tragedies (9-11) (showing at very least- knowledge prior to the attack, and at most complicity in the attack itself)

yeh israel has NEVER been an ally. do you spy on your allies? do you massacre people on one of your allies ships (USS Liberty) in an effort to get your "ally" to bomb egypt? do you send agents from your spy agency to film and celebrate national tragedies (9-11) (showing at very least- knowledge prior to the attack, and at most complicity in the attack itself)

"But mainstream opinion is beginning to shift away from Israel — ………."OH! Please give us a break from feeding us more garbage. If there were no internet–}sreal X-Russians would be control/occupy all the middle-east and not ONE PALESTINIAN would live there.
Get this cr@ap about }sreal–Best world's free medical care ,4th best economy, best military equipped,free housing, free land, no jail time killing arabs, trillion$ USA dirty dollars laundried for clean money–and the author is not bothered that Billion$ of our tax money are funneled.Does author say China gives N.K. money or military hardware–NO china does not!
Get this Fatheads–}srael is a USA funded private run military base by Crazy X-russian cult members.Now you know why Russia is about to approve sanctions on Iran.

yeh israel has NEVER been an ally. do you spy on your allies? do you massacre people on one of your allies ships (USS Liberty) in an effort to get your "ally" to bomb egypt? do you send agents from your spy agency to film and celebrate national tragedies (9-11) (showing at very least- knowledge prior to the attack, and at most complicity in the attack itself)

We need to stop congratulating ourselves that there has been a shift when THERE HAS NOT! A shift only happens if we push harder and harder for one. We may or may not have an opening, but not because of Obamian realism. There is no such thing. Obama is one of the most extreme hegemonists we have ever seen. EVERYTHING HE DOES IS ABOUT HEGEMONY. PERIOD. We need to change things. He will not.

76 Senators and 333 Congresspeople signed an "Israel Lobby" letter in support of Netanyahu's defiance of the U.S. president not because of their fear of its "magical powers" to elect or defeat them in the next election but because of "the overlap in the exceptionalist traditions of Israel and the United States."

76 Senators and 333 Congresspeople signed an "Israel Lobby" letter in support of Netanyahu's defiance of the U.S. president not because of their fear of its "magical powers" to elect or defeat them in the next election but because of "the overlap in the exceptionalist traditions of Israel and the United States."

Isn't it curious too how effectively the North Koreans, with all the odds against them, have industrialized enough to develop nuclear weapons and accompanying missiles to defend themselves locally at least, even against the supposedly irresistible US?

Note also that Israel uses its nuclear weapons, which it got from the US, mainly to blackmail same.

Do you suppose the "paranoid" North Koreans have ever blackmailed Communist China with their nuclear weapons?

Imagine how peaceful the Far East would be if the US just simply picked up all its petty aggressions and belligerencies and nuclear weapons and ships and troops and such and just went home.

BullSh!t. How can you compare NK to Israel? NK has been under threat for the past 60 years by the most powerful country while Israel has been an ally with the most powerful country. NK has not invaded other countries (who started Korean War is still controversial). What about Israel?

BullSh!t. How can you compare NK to Israel? NK has been under threat for the past 60 years by the most powerful country while Israel has been an ally with the most powerful country. NK has not invaded other countries (who started Korean War is still controversial). What about Israel?

BullSh!t. How can you compare NK to Israel? NK has been under threat for the past 60 years by the most powerful country while Israel has been an ally with the most powerful country. NK has not invaded other countries (who started Korean War is still controversial). How about Israel?

BullSh!t. How can you compare NK to Israel? NK has been under threat for the past 60 years by the most powerful country while Israel has been an ally with the most powerful country. NK has not invaded other countries (who started Korean War is still controversial). How about Israel?

"But mainstream opinion is beginning to shift away from Israel — ………."OH! Please give us a break from feeding us more garbage. If there were no internet–}sreal X-Russians would be control/occupy all the middle-east and not ONE PALESTINIAN would live there.
Get this cr@ap about }sreal–Best world's free medical care ,4th best economy, best military equipped,free housing, free land, no jail time killing arabs, trillion$ USA dirty dollars laundried for clean money–and the author is not bothered that Billion$ of our tax money are funneled.Does author say China gives N.K. money or military hardware–NO china does not!
Get this Fatheads–}srael is a USA funded private run military base by Crazy X-russian cult members.Now you know why Russia is about to approve sanctions on Iran.

A lot of good comments were made by the posters before me about the writer.Imagine israel wants in on OECD to be up there with elite Western powers. They have been destroying Western civilization and the White Crishtian male that goes along with it for 2000 years and they are almost done. Then he says we pay Egypt the same money as israel to be our friend. That is a lie. We pay Egypt that money to be israels friend while supressing 90% of their population that is against israel. I add that bribe to the cost od aid to israel

"Some day, when they look over their shoulders for back-up, they might find nothing but air." Hardly likely, and I have Israel in mind of course. Israel owns the US. But Israel also has some other advantages. This country is the darling of the western press. Whatever human rights violations Israelis may commit, they always find very willing defenders among the rotten elites in Europe and North America. Does North Korea find equally gullible supporters? Moreover, we could challenge all the propaganda the western press emits about the badness of NK. Pyongyang is shown as the bête noire in Asia, Israel is presented as the beacon of democracy and reliability in the ME. The fact that most people, at least in the US, believe this falsehood attests to the power of this KGB-like propaganda.

"'The North Korea side stated that its stance in favor of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula has not changed,' Xinhua said. 'The North Korean side is willing, together with all parties, to discuss creating favorable conditions for restarting the six-party talks.'

North Korea's KCNA news agency relayed a message of thanks from Kim to Hu which praised the 'world-startling achievements' made by China 'after doing away with the centuries-old backwardness.'"

[Reuters]

"Denuclearization of the Korean peninsular" means, simply put, US out.

What a remarkable event that Japanese and Koreans and Chinese seem all to be singing the same tune.

You might think the US was bankrupt or something–and not just financially.

People see what they want to see. There's a small group of people that hate Israel (motivated by anti-semitism, not anything Israel has done), and are desperately trying to convince themselves that the rest of the world agrees with them. So they create the fantasy that Israel is in trouble, when all evidence is to the contrary. Israel is stronger than ever, its economy is doing well, global investment in Israel is way up, and the international community (including Muslim nations such as Egypt) continues to strongly support the blockade of Gaza rightly viewing Hamas as the source of the problem. Not a single, solitary country or company has signed up to the BDS campaign. Not one. It has been a complete and total failure, as anyone who was objective could easily see.

Don't hold your breath waiting for Israel to collapse folks. The Jews, both in Israel and outside it, are doing the best they've done in their entire 5000 year history, and see even better days ahead. And if Obama doesn't come to his senses, stop making these ridiculous demands of Israel, and apologize, then he wont' get reelected. His position is strongly opposed by virtually the entire American people, except the lunatic fringe of people like Kucinich and McKinnery, who can't even get 1% of the vote when they run a national campaign.

Ah, another voice for the "the state of Israel" as in turn the only voice of Judaism and Jews, throughout history and around the world.

Quite anti-Semitic actually , on its face and in context, and directly analogous to the NAZI's claim to be the voice of all Germans.

If the "state of Israel" is clearly a neo-Hegleian heresy, as many orthodox also see, it is too increasingly its own little isolated "Third-and-a-half Reich", with only the US, along with its Zionist Fundamentalist lunatics, fool enough to fall for it.

"There's a small group of people that hate Israel (motivated by anti-semitism, not anything Israel has done), and are desperately trying to convince themselves that the rest of the world agrees with them. So they create the fantasy that Israel is in trouble, when all evidence is to the contrary. Israel is stronger than ever, its economy is doing well, global investment in Israel is way up, and the international community (including Muslim nations such as Egypt) continues to strongly support the blockade of Gaza rightly viewing Hamas as the source of the problem."
I thought you were being ironic. However, I agree 100% with your statement that people see what they want to see. Only a lunatic could think that Israel is an example of anything. The international community has stopped buying the version that Israel is a peace-loving country in spite of the efforts made by the western press. The Egyptian government (not the people) support the blockade in exchange for over a billion dollars a year from the US. Regarding the "good" opinion the world has about Israel, you should read Judge Goldstone's report, himself a Jew, on the Gaza conflict. Moreover, in parts of the world such as Latin America where Israel was seen in a more or less positive light, they now have the worst standing. Of course Kucinich and McKinnery "can't even get 1% of the vote" because AIPAC has bought the whole Congress to the point that Coingressman Fullbright said that Capitol Hill was Israel-occupied territory.

theres our bloodthirsty megaphoney ziotards! i've wondered what slimy rock you filth have been under (and by filth im NOT callling all jews filth, just retarded zionists and zionist apologists) what planet do you live on where you think ANY of that is true??? of course he has to pay his due fealty to the zionist lobby (obomba) because they control the lame stream media, hollywood and our entire congress/senate. (by either blackmail, brainwashing or a combination thereof) israels 5000 year history? wow you really do suckle at the teat of delusion!! no where on this earth is there evidence that israel is any older than 62 years old! no the rest of the world does NOT support israel, many governments do because the zionist disease has infiltrated all of their countries leadership as well. the leaders of each country generally do NOT represent their people, and unfortunately large chunks of each respective populations are too stupid to realize it.

thats the hard part, telling if you are one of those idiots that just believes everything the media tells them and is willfully ignorant or if you are a megaphoney plant that is spreading completely fabricated disinformation. peddle your lies and nonsense somewhere else, most of the readers here aren't buying it.

you are a PERFECT example of "people seeing what they want to see" pot kettle black. you are completely devoid of any grip on reality.